During geek-fests like CiscoLive, it’s easy to become hypnotized by all the amazing technology. So many smart people are innovating in so many amazing ways. When the party’s over, though, we all need to get back to business. Not just CIO’s and CTO’s – everyone in IT needs to focus on business outcomes – now more than ever. Here’s why.

IT is under increasing pressure to innovate and help deliver business results, as evidenced by several new data points in our industry. Understanding these trends and next steps can help IT, business, and operations teams all work better together to deliver more value from technology.

Two of the biggest problems that prison staff must face every day are security and cost. From visitation to healthcare to education, cost-efficient technology solutions can make the lives of inmates safer and better.

Cisco® Connected Justice™ and Renovo Software have partnered to integrate Renovo’s expertise in inmate visitation management and Cisco’s open communications infrastructure. This combination provides prisons and courts with the ability to offer telecommunications services that improve lives and uphold public safety standards while cutting costs.

A great example of this theory in practice is Muskegon County Jail. The Michigan jail will leverage Renovo’s videoconferencing technologies to facilitate visitation for inmates and their families, as well as streamline communication with courtrooms and lawyers. Televisitation allows inmates to maintain frequent face-to-face contact with their legal counsel and visitors without the concerns of physical safety and contraband. This technology alleviates a burden on prison personnel and eases the physiological impact of visiting a prison for families of inmates, especially children. Video visitation is not new, but Muskegon County is a pioneer in fully adopting the practice and planning for its future use. Read More »

On a recent visit to my doctor’s office, I observed something that I probably wouldn’t have paid much attention to in the past: When a nurse called the next patient back for her appointment, a young girl also stood up and explained that her mother didn’t speak English well and asked to accompany her to interpret.

I live right outside of Washington, D.C., which is fortunately a culturally diverse area so I am used to hearing different languages on a day-to-day basis. I guess I never really considered the impact of not speaking English when it comes to seeking medical care. Luckily, the example above, seemed like a routine office visit, but it got me thinking about what would happen in an emergency situation where seconds count.

Paras and Associates know this scenario all too well as they provide real-time language interpreters for healthcare environments using video collaboration. PAA’s service ensures that patients anywhere in the country, who speak any language, can gain access to high quality medical interpretation in an instant. Video communications has played a significant role in their practice and has significantly reduced “lost in translation” errors by allowing doctor, patient and interpreter to see each other’s faces. The power of video overcomes language barriers that can often be misinterpreted over the phone … and herein lies my passion.

I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know Melinda Paras, PAA’s president and CEO. Melinda is a veteran of the medical industry and saw a need to deliver a better “business outcome” to patients and medical staff. In this case, the business outcome could mean the difference between life and death.

You don’t need me to tell you to know that we are in the midst of a technology revolution. It’s mobilizing the internet. And it’s transforming the way billions of people around the globe collaborate, communicate, and connect to the internet.

• The education customers I work with are incorporating video and mobile applications into their curriculum with up to a 100 students in an auditorium accessing the Wi-Fi network simultaneously.

In business, clear and rapid communication is always important, but it’s most important in healthcare, where saving minutes or even seconds can make all the difference. A growing number of healthcare organizations are adopting video conferencing to improve communications both internally and with patients. The potential benefits are huge.

Internal video conferencing and telepresence technology can help healthcare organizations better manage rapidly escalating costs, accelerate innovation, deliver high-quality care, and maximize the use of skilled resources. Doctor-patient videoconferencing has the potential to broaden access to healthcare, add convenience, and lower costs, according to a recent InformationWeek article examining the results of its 2013 Healthcare IT Priorities survey. (The survey found that 28% of respondents are already using some form of doctor-patient video communication.)

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